Horse Girl, Your Friend is Fighting Her Way Out of the Horse Racing Track

"If you want to sit on the wooden benches in the bus shelter until dawn, I won't stop you."

She didn't turn around, but just turned her face slightly to the side.

"Follow me, let's go set up the tent."

……

At this point, only seven days remain until the start of the Darby race in Japan, which will determine the luckiest horse girl of the generation.

After a long and somewhat tedious period of closed-loop training within the school, the time finally arrived at the new moon night that the two had agreed upon.

So today, poetry, wine, and the love for Orihime have mysteriously reappeared in this place.

"Have you submitted your leave instructions to the dorm head?"

As they walked, Ai Mulan calmly asked.

"It was given."

Poetry and Wine followed her at a leisurely pace, answering casually.

The two fell silent, walking quietly through the forest. As they climbed higher, the sky darkened completely, and the last rays of the setting sun were swallowed by the distant mountains.

The mountain path was even darker than expected.

Ai Mu Zhi Ji led the way, while Shi and Jiu followed about three steps behind her.

After passing through the last steep patch of dense forest, the view suddenly opened up.

This is a flat clearing located in the forest.

Because it was a new moon, the night sky was stripped of its moonlight, and the darkness, devoid of light, became the perfect backdrop.

The stars, like shattered diamonds, were poured onto the sky without reservation.

"Right here."

Ai Mu Shi stopped and unloaded the bag from her back.

Poetry and Wine silently put down their backpacks, and the two began to clear away the pebbles and sharp branches on the ground in perfect unison.

Aimeri unzipped the outer packaging and unfolded the inner tent. Poetry and Wine naturally took the aluminum alloy tent poles.

"Put it through the pole."

"I admire Orihime," she said briefly.

"Ah."

Poetry and Wine crouched down and skillfully threaded the metal rod through the inner tent's sleeve.

One on the left, one on the right. As Ai Mu Zhi Ji inserted one end of the pole into the notch at the bottom corner, poetry and wine worked in sync, perfectly supporting the dome of the tent.

As they prepared to secure the ground stakes, Shi Yujiu, holding a hammer, paused for a moment, his gaze fixed on the ground.

It seems that because of the higher humidity, that place is noticeably more moist and soft than other places.

Ai Musashi walked over and, without a word, took the hammer from her hand.

"Go lay out the moisture-proof mats and sleeping bags."

"I can knock."

Poetry and Wine frowned and reached out to take it back.

"It's not raining, I'm not that fragile."

"You're typing too slowly, I want to rest early."

Admiring Orihime, he crouched down, leaving poetry and wine with his back to her.

With a deft flick of her wrist, she hammered the nail into the soil with a crisp "clang".

"Besides, if you get your hands dirty, who will make the tea later?"

Looking at that awkward back view, the stubbornness in Shi Yujiu's eyes faded a little.

She stopped arguing and turned to crawl into the newly erected inner tent.

After everything was settled, the two sat on folding chairs outside the tent.

A camping light was on the tent. Poetry and Wine poured the brewed hot black tea into a portable cup and handed it to him.

"If you don't mind the heat."

"Thank you."

Ai Mulan held the warm cup in both hands, her gaze passing over the edge of the cliff and looking towards the distant starry sky.

The night wind rustled through the dense canopy of trees on the mountaintop, bringing with it the sound of waves crashing in the pines.

Without the light pollution of city neon lights, the starry sky on the night of the new moon is dazzling and bright.

The countless points of light transformed into shattered ice crystals, shimmering with a cold light against the deep blue, almost black sky.

It was quiet all around, with the occasional rustling of leaves.

I don't know when it started, but a soft humming sound mingled with the cool night breeze.

It's an extremely simple melody, even somewhat disjointed.

"Poetry and Wine" is a well-known nursery rhyme.

Is it... "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star"?

Poetry and Wine, holding the warm portable cup, turned their heads slightly in surprise.

She saw that Orihime, whom she admired, was still in the same position as before, holding the cup in both hands, her gaze fixed on the stars in the eastern part of the night sky.

Her dark brown ears tilted slightly backward, and her face appeared unusually serene in the faint starlight.

"what's on your mind?"

Poetry and Wine couldn't help but ask.

"Hmm...every new moon night."

The humming stopped abruptly without warning.

Orihime, who admired him, suddenly spoke, breaking the silence that had lasted for several minutes.

“Now that all the excess moonlight has been stripped away, I can clearly perceive her presence.”

"she?"

Poetry and Wine didn't turn around; they continued along with her words.

I once had a twin sister.

Ai Musashi unconsciously tightened her grip on the cup.

"But she didn't survive the delivery. In the end, only I opened my eyes in this body that should have belonged to two people."

Main character: I'm currently experiencing severe writer's block and am seriously studying.

I'm currently experiencing severe burnout and am seriously studying other works to identify my own issues.

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Main character: Chapter 361, there's a younger sister!

Ai Mu's eyes were dark. She paused for a moment, then continued.

"My mother kept it a secret for a long time, and only told me about it many years later."

Poetry, wine, and tea paused slightly as she felt a strange, dull pain in her brain. She felt as if she had heard about this several times before.

'Um……'

Did she admire Orihime by mentioning it too many times, or did she get something wrong?

Poetry and Wine shook their heads slightly, banishing those vague thoughts from their minds. They continued listening to Orihime tell her story without interrupting or showing any surprise.

The black-haired girl leaned leisurely against the back of the folding chair.

"One night after that, I looked up at the night sky."

Ai Haibara tilted her chin slightly, her gaze piercing through the boundless darkness, fixing intently on a bright star in the constellation Lyra.

“I felt a strong attraction from a star in the sky. That feeling… cannot be explained by common sense.”

“But at that moment I was absolutely certain that it was her. She was there looking at me, and she kept looking at me.”

"So that's why you kept talking to the night sky?"

Poetry and Wine followed her gaze and looked at the deep and vast sky.

"Ah."

Ai Musou sighed wearily.

"I want to fulfill the wishes that I felt there, the wishes that belong to her."

The faint, warm light from the camping lamp shone on the two of them, bringing them a sense of warmth even in the desolate wilderness at night.

“I asked my mother.”

Ai Mu lowered her eyes, looking at the black tea in the cup that had stopped steaming.

"I survived for no particular reason, it was just a coincidence."

Ai Muyu closed her eyes and said with a hint of self-abandonment.

"She took my place, giving me the right to live. She died in my place."

The guilt of self-reproach had long since seeped into his bones like a malignant tumor, which was probably the current state of those who loved Orihime.

"This body should have originally contained half of hers."

Ai Mu's head was raised again, and when she opened her eyes again, the pain in them had been replaced by a chilling stubbornness.

"So I stand here, I stand at the starting line, not for myself. I am only living to give her glory."

To win every victory for the half of myself that died in place of me.

I dedicate all my glory to that star in the night sky.

So you think running is a joyful thing?

"……hapiness?"

Ai Mu was stunned. She clearly hadn't expected that Shi and Jiu would ask such a naive question after hearing such a heavy story.

She was speechless for a moment, her lips slightly parted, but she didn't know how to start speaking.

A long silence stretched across the mountaintop, with only the sound of the wind remaining.

Poetry and Wine raised their cups, tilted their heads back, and drank the remaining slightly cooled red tea in one gulp.

She then casually placed the empty cup on the small square table.

"knock."

A crisp clinking sound rang out.

Are you going to continue like this?

Hearing Poetry and Wine speak so casually, Ai Mu frowned slightly.

"If you're trying to enlighten me with those boring, pretty words, you don't need to. I don't need anyone's pity, just like you."

"I don't have that much free time..."

Poetry and Wine muttered something to each other, and then, instead of backing down, she raised her voice.

"Do you feel ashamed of losing the competition at the Satsuki Sho?"

"Ah."

Ai Mu Orihime bit her lower lip and replied coldly.

Poetry and Wine frowned slightly in displeasure upon hearing this. Suddenly, she stretched out her hand, raised a slender finger, and casually waved it in front of Orihime's deep purple eyes.

"Then why did you try to comfort me?"